Ltc Todd R Kruse
Army/ARNG * Iraq
1983-2010 * 2003
I Grew up in Davenport Iowa, attended Davenport Central High School, and upon graduation, join the Army. I did basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey and AIT at Fort Belvoir, VA. and was stationed at Fort Hood, TX for 2 ½ years. Upon discharge from the Army, I joined the Iowa National Guard, enrolled at the University of Iowa and enrolled in ROTC. My initial assignment in the Iowa National Guard was HHD, 109th Medical Battalion, located in Iowa City, IA. When I received my commission, I was assigned to the 209th Medical Company as a platoon leader. From there I served with the 294th Dental Detachment, 134th Ambulance Company, and then again with the Battalion Headquarters. All of these assignments were with, or under, the 109th Medical Battalion. During my second stint with the Battalion Headquarters, I deployed to Iraq with the Battalion in March of 2003.
My adventure to Iraq began in January of 2003, when I mobilized with the 109th Medical Battalion to Ft McCoy, Wisconsin, and subsequently deployed to the Iraqi theater of operation. We spent approximately 3 weeks in Kuwait to gather our equipment from ships and organize ourselves for movement into Iraq. On April 20th, 2003, Easter Sunday, we crossed into Iraq and conducted a 2 day convoy to a staging area about 10 miles south of Baghdad. 2 weeks later, we had our orders and we convoyed further north towards the city of Mosul. We established our base of operations in a place about 40 miles south of Mosul, which was a now former Iraqi air base. Our mission was to provide direct medical support to the 101st Airborne Division, which was commanded by MG David Petraeus. I was personally part of a Headquarters staff that was responsible for managing and directing medical companies, providing these units with administrative and logistical support, as well as guidance and supervision, overseeing operations of these units. At this point, we were commanding 3 units that provided medical support to U.S. and coalition soldiers in the northern 1/3rd of Iraq. We spent 2 and half months at that location. Around the end of June 2003, the Army started to reduce the number of units in Iraq, which meant we would move south, closer to Baghdad. By August, we had moved to our new location, another airbase, and taken on the medical support mission for the middle 1/3rd of Iraq. This gave the Battalion medical responsibility for the northern 2/3rd’s of Iraq, which ran from Babylon (Al Hillah) in the south to the Turkey border. At this point, we commanded seven different units that provided a wide variety of medical services. This included medical care in a clinical setting, as well as emergency medical treatment, dental care, optometry services, mental health services, preventive medicine services, and veterinary services. Some of the missions included support to Iraqi prisons and detainee center’s in and around Baghdad, direct support to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and Ambassador L. Paul Bremer and his staff, and VIPs that would visit Baghdad. The detainee and Prison mission included providing medical care to those persons in the “deck of cards” and to prisoners located in the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison outside of Baghdad. Additionally, one of our units was assigned to a base that was located next to the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon. This did provide an opportunity to do a bit of sightseeing, which I found very interesting. Throughout our time in Iraq, we would send medical teams out to various villages and communities to provide medical assessments of the community’s medical needs and capabilities, as well as providing basic medical care to local civilians. We continued these missions until we were relieved in place by a similar unit to ours, which was also a National Guard unit, out of Connecticut. We handed the mission off to them on March 4th, 2004, and crossed the border into Kuwait on March 14th. On March 27th, we boarded the freedom flight home, and with great relief, arrived in this great country of ours in the late hours of that same day, a day I will not soon forget. I am left with a feeling of accomplishment and contribution to the ongoing efforts in Iraq. I would like to close this with some thoughts that I wrote to family and friends back over the Christmas holiday: “Just some thoughts for the Christmas season. It has been a very difficult and challenging adventure over here. But I believe that what we are doing is right and just. The atrocity that had occurred over here (evidence of which we have seen) would justify our actions in most rational thinking minds. That notion of finding stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction has taken a back seat to the inhumanity to man that has been occurring over here for decades and perhaps centuries. In less than a year, the standard of living for the average Iraqi is better than before the war. Medical care, education, and good paying jobs are all more accessible to the average citizen. Those that were in the elite class, of course, are not better off. They no longer can literally exist off the backs of the average citizen. The level of poverty is astronomical when one considers the potential wealth this country has. And the excessiveness displayed by Saddam and his insiders is the ultimate insult to humanity as he truly took from the mouths of babes and fed those that swore allegiance. Our goal may not have been to free an oppressed people, but we have certainly done so, and I believe there are millions that are thanking their God this holiday season that we are here, and intend to stay. This will not be an easy task to see through, but with the support of people like yourself and many millions back home, this task will be that much easier for those of us doing the dirty, dangerous, and many times, rewarding tasks that will ultimately bring stability to this region of the world. I am thankful this Christmas to have wonderful family and friends to support me through this challenging period in my life, and I look forward to the day I return and can renew those friendships and family bonds. Thanks again for your support and Merry Christmas and have a happy New Year.”
After redeployment I was assigned to the 105th/671st/67th Troop Command, spending most of my time in the S1 (personnel) section. During that time, I completed my last Army school of my career, Command and General Staff College, which so happened to take place at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and finishing my formal Army training where it all began. From there I was given my final assignment, Commander of the 109th Medical Battalion. I could not have been more proud and honored to command the organization where I “grew up”, and to lead the people I respected and admired, was very humbling. The major event during my command was the Flood of 2008. Virtually all of the Iowa National Guard was mobilized for this catastrophic event, including the entire Medical Battalion. We were not only tasked with various flood mitigation support missions, but we also had to relocate the equipment and personnel from the Armory, as the waters would eventually take the building. As usual, the soldiers of the 109th Medical Battalion rose to the occasion and successfully completed all tasks and missions given to the Battalion. Ironically, the new Iowa City Armory started construction in the summer of 2008, but of course, it would be some 18 months before that building could be occupied. So we were relocated to a temporary facility located along Heartland Dr in Coralville. Then in October 2009, we officially moved into the New Armory, where I would relinquish command, a month later, to my brother Kevin. 5 months later, I would retire after nearly 27 years of service.
My service in the Army and National Guard, has been and will always be a proud and distinguished part of my life and I will always cherish, not only the experience, but the people I came to know and respect, and have built lifelong friendships with.
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